thumb|right|280px|[[Palazzo Mancini, Rome, the seat of the Académie since 1725. Etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1752.]]

thumb|280px|right|The [[Villa Medici as it looks today.]]

The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them to stay in Rome for three to five years at the expense of the state. The prize was extended to architecture in 1720, music in 1803 and engraving in 1804. The prestigious award was abolished in 1968 by André Malraux, then Minister of Culture, following the May 68 riots that called for cultural change.

History

The Prix de Rome was initially created for painters and sculptors in 1663 in France, during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by completing a very difficult elimination contest. To succeed, a student had to create a sketch on an assigned topic while isolated in a closed booth with no reference material to draw on. The prize, organised by the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture), was open to their students. From 1666, the award winner could win a stay of three to five years at the Palazzo Mancini in Rome at the expense of the King of France. In 1720, the Académie Royale d’Architecture began a prize in architecture. Six painters, four sculptors, and two architects would be sent to the French Academy in Rome founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert from 1666.

Expanded after 140 years into five categories, the contest started in 1663 as two categories: painting and sculpture. Architecture was added in 1720. In 1803, music was added, and after 1804 there was a prix for engraving as well. The primary winner took the "First Grand Prize" (called the agréé), and the "Second Prizes" were awarded to the runners-up.

In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte moved the French Academy in Rome to the Villa Medici, with the intention of preserving an institution once threatened by the French Revolution. At first, the villa and its gardens were in a sad state, and they had to be renovated in order to house the winners of the Prix de Rome. In this way, he hoped to retain for young French artists the opportunity to see and copy the masterpieces of antiquity and the Renaissance.

Jacques-Louis David, having failed to win the prize three years in a row, considered suicide. Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Ernest Chausson, and Maurice Ravel attempted the Prix de Rome but did not gain recognition. Ravel tried a total of five times to win the prize, and the last failed attempt in 1905 was so controversial that it led to a complete reorganization of the administration at the Paris Conservatory.

During World War II (1939–45), the prize winners were accommodated in the Villa Paradiso in Nice.

The Prix de Rome was abolished in 1968 by André Malraux, who was Minister of Culture at the time. Since then, a number of contests have been created, and the academies, together with the Institut de France, were merged by the State and the Minister of Culture. Selected residents now have an opportunity for study during an 18-month (sometimes 2-year) stay at The Academy of France in Rome, which is accommodated in the Villa Medici.

The heyday of the Prix de Rome was during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was later imitated by the Prix Abd-el-Tif and the Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers, 1907–1961, and later Prix d'Indochine including a bursary to visit the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi, 1920–1939, and bursary for residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, 1929–present.

Winners in the Architecture category

The Prix de Rome for Architecture was created in 1720.

18th century (architecture)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! scope="col" width="50px" | Year

! scope="col" width="225px" | Premier Prix

! scope="col" width="225px" | Deuxième Prix

! scope="col" width="225px" | Troisieme Prix

! scope="col" width="360px" | Competition project

|-

| 1720 || Antoine Deriset || || || An entry to a Doric palace

|-

| 1721 || Philippe Buache || Guillot-Aubry || Jean Pinard || A plan of a church measuring 20 toises [40 metres] square

|-

| 1722 || Jean-Michel Chevotet || Jolivet || || A triumphal arch

|-

| 1723 || Jean Pinard || Pierre Mouret || || A mansion for a great nobleman

|-

| 1724 || Jean-Pierre Le Tailleur de Boncourt || Pierre-Étienne Le Bon || || A high altar for a cathedral

|-

| 1725 || Pierre-Étienne Le Bon

19th century (architecture)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! scope="col" width="50px" | Year

! scope="col" width="225px" | Premier Prix

! scope="col" width="225px" | Deuxième Prix

! scope="col" width="225px" | Troisieme Prix/<br />Honorable Mention

! scope="col" width="360px" | Competition project

|-

| 1801 || Auguste Famin || Dedeban || || A forum

|-

| 1802 || Hubert Rohault de Fleury || Bury || || A trade fair with exhibition pavilion for industrial products

|-

| 1803 || François-Narcisse Pagot || André Chatillon || || A maritime port

|-

| 1804 || Jules Lesueur || André Chatillon || || A palace of a sovereign

|-

| 1805 || Auguste Guenepin || Huyot || || Six houses for six families

|-

| 1806 || Jean-Baptiste Desdeban || Louis-Hippolyte Lebas || || A palace for a legion of honor

|-

| 1807 || Jean-Nicolas Huyot || Leclère || Giroust

20th century (architecture)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! scope="col" width="50px" | Year

! scope="col" width="225px" | Premier Prix

! scope="col" width="240px" | Deuxième Prix

! scope="col" width="180px" | Troisieme Prix/<br />Honorable Mention

! scope="col" width="380px" | Competition project

|-

| 1901 || Jean Hulot || || || An American Academy

|-

| 1902 ||Henri Prost || Eugène Chifflot || || A national print house

|-

| 1903 || Léon Jaussely || Jean Wielhorski and Henri Joulie|| || A public square

|-

| 1904 || Ernest Michel Hébrard || Pierre Leprince-Ringuet || || A carpet manufactory

|-

| 1905 || Camille Lefèvre || || || A water tower

|-

| 1906 || Patrice Bonnet || || || A French college

|-

| 1907 || Charles Nicod || || || An observatory and scientific station

|-

| 1908 || Charles Louis Boussois || || ||

|-

| 1909 || Maurice Boutterin || || || A colonial palace

|-

| 1910 || Georges-Fernand Janin || || || A sanatorium on the Mediterranean coast

|-

| 1911 || René Mirland || Paul Tournon || || A monument to the glory of the independence of a large country

|-

| 1912 || Jacques Debat-Ponsan || Roger-Henri Expert || || A casino in a spa town

|-

| 1913 || Roger Séassal || Gaston Castel || ||

|-

| 1914 || Albert Ferran || || || A military college

|-

| 1919 || Jacques Carlu and Jean-Jacques Haffner || Eugène-Alexandre Girardin and Louis Sollier; André Jacob || || A palace for the League of Nations at Geneva

|-

| 1920 || Michel Roux-Spitz || Marc Brillaud de Laujardière || ||

|-

| 1921 || Léon Azéma || Maurice Mantout || || A manufactory of tapestries and art fabrics

|-

| 1922 || Robert Giroud || || || A large Military development college

|-

| 1923 || Jean-Baptiste Mathon || Georges Feray || || The residence of the French ambassador in Marocco

|-

| 1924 || Marcel Péchin || || || An institute of general botany

|-

| 1925 || Alfred Audoul || Marcel Chappey || || A National School of Applied Arts

|-

| 1926 || Jean-Baptiste Hourlier || || || A summer residence for a Chief of State

|-

| 1927 || André Lecomte || André-Albert Dubreuil || || An Institute of Archaeology and Art

|-

| 1928 || Eugène Beaudouin || Gaston Glorieux and Roger Hummel || || An embassy in a large Far Eastern country

|-

| 1929 || Jean Niermans || Germain Grange and André Hilt || || A palace for the Institute of France

|-

| 1930 || Achille Carlier || Noël Le Maresquier and Alexandre Courtois|| || A college of fine arts

|-

| 1931 || Georges Dengler || Georges Bovet || ||A French intellectual centre of propaganda abroad

|-

| 1932 || 200px <br>Camille Montagné || André Aubert and Robert Pommier || || A summer residence in the mountains

|-

| 1933 || Alexandre Courtois || Robert Camelot and Charles-Gustave Stoskopf|| || A church of pilgrimage

|-

| 1934 || André Hilt || Georges Letélié and Pierre-Jean Guth|| || A permanent exhibition of contemporary art

|-

| 1935 || Paul Domenc|| || || An institute of intellectual cooperation

|-

| 1936 || André Remondet || Georges Noël and Pierre Lablaude || || A naval museum

|-

| 1937 || Georges Noël || Othello Zavaroni and Paul Jacques Grillo || || A French Pantheon

|-

| 1938 || Henry Bernard || Pierre Dufau and Gonthier || || A sports organisation centre

|-

| 1939 || Bernard Zehrfuss || Sachs and Sergent|| || A palace of the French colonial empire

|-

| 1942 (?)|| Raymond Gleize || || ||

|-

| 1943 || André Chatelin and Jean Dubuisson|| || ||

|-

| 1944 || Claude Béraud || Henry Pottier || ||

|-

| 1945 || Jean Dubuisson and Jean de Mailly jointly || || || Palace for the Court of Justice

|-

| 1946 || Guillaume Gillet || || || Grand Foyer of the crews of the Fleet

|-

| 1947 || Jacques Cordonnier || Paul La Mache || || Ministry of Arts

|-

| 1948 || Yves Moignet || || ||

|-

| 1949 || Paul Vimond|| || || A French college

|-

| 1950 || Jacques Perrin-Fayolle || Poutu, Audoul and Castel jointly, Xavier Arsène-Henry || || A Mediterranean university

|-

| 1951 || Louis-Gabriel de Hoÿm de Marien || Bergerioux and Marriage|| || A conference and congress centre

|-

| 1952 || Louis Blanchet ||Pierre-André Dufétel and Levard || ||Communal home of a large city

|-

| 1953 || Olivier-Clément Cacoub|| Chaudonneret and Bourdon|| || Mount of Martyrs

|-

| 1954 || Michel Marot ||Marty and Chauvin || || A centre of African Research in Kano

|-

| 1955 || Ngô Viết Thụ ||Pouradier Duteil and Maréchal || || A votive sanctuary

|-

| 1956 || Serge Menil || Michel Folliasson || || An Acropolis

|-

| 1957 || Jean-Marie Brasilier|| Delb and Robert || || A Palace of Natural Science

|-

| 1958 || Gérard Carton ||Claude Bach and Menart || || A Pantheon for Europe

|-

| 1959 || Gérard Carton || Tournier and Hardy|| ||An international conference centre for drama and opera

|-

| 1960 || Jean-Claude Bernard || Doucet and Cacaut || || Business centre of large capital city

|-

| 1961 || || Jacques Labro|| || A monastery

|-

| 1962 || || Jean-Loup Roubert and Christian Cacault || ||

|-

| 1963 || Jean-Louis Girodet || Jacques Lallemand || || A marine institute

|-

| 1964 || Bernard Schoebel|| || ||An artificial island with arts centre and water sports

|-

| 1965 || Jean-Pierre Poncabaré|| || || A foundation for the study of modern architecture

|-

| 1967 || Daniel Kahane || Michel Longuet and Aymeric Zublena||(last award) ||A house for Europe in the event of a transformation of the center of Paris

|-

|}

First Prize Winners in the Painting category

17th century (painting)

18th century (painting)

19th century (painting)

20th century (painting)

First Prize Winners in the Sculpture category

17th century (sculpture)

18th century (sculpture)

19th century (sculpture)

20th century (sculpture)

thumb|1931 winners: [[René Andrei (right) shared second price with Hélène Bouley-Hue (middle), while Louis Leygue (left) won.]]

First Prize Winners in the Engraving category

:The engraving prize was created in 1804.

19th century (engraving)

20th century (engraving)

First Prize Winners in the Musical Composition category

The required composition was originally a cantata for solo voice and orchestra; later one male and female voice were specified; and later still three voices. Titles of the pieces have generally been restricted to "cantata", "lyric scene" or "dramatic scene".

19th century (musical composition)

20th century (musical composition)

  • List of all the winners of the Prix de Rome for musical composition

Prix de Rome (Netherlands)

A Prix de Rome was also established in the Kingdom of Holland by Lodewijk Napoleon to award young artists and architects. During the years 1807–1810 prize winners were sent to Paris and onwards to Rome for study. In 1817, after the Netherlands had gained its independence, King Willem I restarted the prize; though it took until 1823 before the new "Royal Academies" of Amsterdam and Antwerp could organize the juries. Suspended in 1851 it was reinstated in 1870 by William III of the Netherlands. Since then the winners have been selected by the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam under the main headings of architecture and the visual arts.

Prix de Rome (Belgium)

The Belgian Prix de Rome (Dutch: Prijs van Rome) is an award for young artists, created in 1832, following the example of the original French Prix de Rome. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp organised the prize until 1920, when the national government took over. The first prize is also sometimes called the Grand Prix de Rome. There were distinct categories for architecture, painting, sculpture and music.

See also

  • Académie de France Rome
  • American Academy in Rome
  • American School of Classical Studies at Athens
  • American Schools of Oriental Research
  • British School at Rome
  • Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Rom
  • Rome Prize
  • List of European art awards

References

  • The Prix de Rome Contests in Painting
  • The Prix de Rome winners in Sculpture (in French)
  • Prix de Rome winners in Music, 1803-1968
  • Liste des pensionnaires de l'Académie de France à Rome, donnant les noms de tous les artistes récompensés dans les concours du Prix de Rome de 1663 à 1907